Wire spring auger head



P 1964 R. G. HUNT WIRE SPRING AUGER HEAD Filed Nov. 6, 1962 IN V EN TOR.

R0552?- G. HU T ATToRN EYS United States Patent 3,149,359 WIRE SPRING AUGER IEAD Robert G. Hunt, Los Angeies, Caliti, assigns: to Marco Products Company, Los Angeles, Calif, 21 firm Filed Nov. 6, 1962, Ser. No. 235,681 3 Claims. (Cl. 15104.3)

This invention has to do with auger heads made of spring wire such as are used on the forward end of a plumbers flexible snake or sewer rod for removing stoppages in plumbing waste lines.

In the removal of stoppages from sewer and other plumbing waste lines, one of the most effective tools for the purpose is a head formed of a helically coiled spring wire. These heads, termed angers, serve to bore into the stoppage and either dislodge it or enable it to be retrieved, depending upon the nature of the stoppage and the configuration of the head. A difiiculty with such heads has been that in order to perform properly some have been made sufliciently stiff that they do not have the necessary flexibility for negotiating all bends or turns encountered in passing through a pipe line. Other heads have been made flexible enough to traverse all bends but have sacrificed stiffness and thus are often ineifective for boring into and for retrieving stoppages in the pipe.

Therefore, an object of the invention is to provide a novel form of auger head made of spring wire which has the advantages of both types of previously used heads in that it combines flexiblity with stifiness whereby it can readily negotiate any turns or bends in a pipe line, being able to bend or flex 90 or more, and yet has the stiffness required for boring through and for retrieving stoppages.

Another object is to provide a new design or shape of anger head which assists in the removal of stoppages from the line either by dislodging and breaking up the same or by retrieving the stoppage by retraction of the plumbers snake.

A further object is to provide a simple, easily constructed head which can be readily attached to conventional types of plumbers snakes and sewer rod tools.

These and other objects will be apparent from the drawing and the following description. Referring to the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an auger head embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a central sectional view axially of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view on line 33 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a View in elevation of the device shown flexed about 90 with respect to its normal axis.

More particularly describing the invention the auger head comprises a body 11 formed of relatively heavy, strong, properly tempered spring wire 12. The wire is wound helically to form a mounting section designated 13 which is relatively small in diameter and is shown as consisting of several closely coiled turns 14 of the wire. As will be seen in FIG. 4 a plumbers snake 15 may be inserted in this end and attached in any suitable manner. Thus, the mounting end or section may be considered to be at the rear end of the tool.

Extending forwardly of the mounting section is a bu1 bous section 16 which consists of several turns 17 of wire spaced apart somewhat and gradually increasing in diameter from the mounting section to a mid point and then decreasing in diameter forwardly thereof to what will be termed a stiffening section 18. The stiffening sec- Ff'ce tion is of relatively small diameter and is formed of closely coiled turns 19 of the wire.

Forwardly of the stiffening section is the auger section 20 which consists of a few widely spaced turns 21 of the spring wire and these are shown as increasing in diameter from the stiffening section to the forward end of the device where the wire terminates in a pointed end 22. This end is designed to enter any stoppage in the pipe as the tool is advanced upon the forward end of a plumbers snake.

With the construction shown and described it will be apparent that the bulbous section 16 provides great flexibility to the head and enables it to negotiate any bends or turns in the path of the advancing tool, and, in FIG. 4, the head has been shown turned with respect to its normal axis, illustrating the flexibility imparted by the bulbous section. The reduced diameter and closely coiled stiifening section 18 forms a firm face from which the forward or anger section extends, thereby imparting the necessary rigidity to it.

While I have shown the auger section as increasing in diameter from its rear end to its forward end, I may, if desired, extend the section further forward by adding a few turns of the wire of gradually decreasing diameter and terminating at its forward end in an open turn of relatively small diameter.

Although I have shown and described preferred forms or" my invention, I contemplate that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the invention, the scope of which is indicated by the following claims.

I claim:

1. An auger head for use in boring through and entangling stoppages in plumbing waste pipes, comprising a body formed of spring wire wound helically from end to end to form a relatively small diameter mounting section at the rear end, a relatively large diameter bulbous section joined to and extending forwardly of said mounting section, a stiffening section of relatively small diameter joined to and extending forwardly of said bulbous section, and an auger section joined to and extending forwardly of said stiffening section.

2. The auger head set forth in claim 1 in which the wire in said stiffening section is wound in more closely coiled convolutions than in said bulbous section.

3. An auger head for use in boring through and entangling stoppages in plumbing waste pipes, comprising a body formed of spring wire wound helically from end to end to form a tightly coiled mounting section of relatively small diameter at its rear end, a relatively loosely coiled relatively large diameter bulbous section joined to said mounting section and extending forwardly thereof, a tightly coiled, small diameter stiffening section joined to and extending forwardly of said bulbous section, and a loosely coiled, forwardly extending auger section joined to and extending forwardly of said stiffening section.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,297,755 Faust Oct. 6, 1942 2,608,421 Schnepp Aug. 26, 1952 2,637,058 Anderson May 5, 1953 2,779,041 Silverman Jan. 29, 1957 OTHER REFERENCES Marco Products Company Publication, July 25, 1933 (page 1). 

1. AN AUGER HEAD FOR USE IN BORING THROUGH AND ENTANGLING STOPPAGES IN PLUMBING WASTE PIPES, COMPRISING A BODY FORMED OF SPRING WIRE WOUND HELICALLY FROM END TO END TO FORM A RELATIVELY SMALL DIAMETER MOUNTING SECTION AT THE REAR END, A RELATIVELY LARGE DIAMETER BULBOUS SECTION JOINED TO AND EXTENDING FORWARDLY OF SAID MOUNTING SECTION, A STIFFENING SECTION OF RELATIVELY SMALL DIAMETER JOINED TO AND EXTENDING FORWARDLY OF SAID BULBOUS SECTION, AND AN AUGER SECTION JOINED TO AND EXTENDING FORWARDLY OF SAID STIFFENING SECTION. 